As Photographers
we're familiar with the range of aesthetically pleasing and appropriate tones
that can imbue our pictures with subtle moods.

For
reasons of archival stability (pure silver halide photos tend to fade) and for
expressiveness, photographs have been toned since the beginnings of our art.

We're
aware of sepia, selenium, copper, gold and blue toners and the beautiful effects
of 'lith printing' to mention just a few of the time honoured wet chemical routes
to achieving tonal changes in our prints. Weird and wonderful effects can also
be brought about chemically by kits such as 'Colorvir'.

With
the dawning of the digital age, a whole spectrum of toning opportunities is now
presented. We can not only emulate the toning of yesteryear but also create a
whole fresh palette of new toning ranges. Additionally, toning offers a useful
platform for hand-tinting an image.

There
are two principal methods of toning with Photoshop

'Colorizing'

'Duotones'

COLORIZING

By choosing the 'Colorize'
route, we can tone either colour or monochrome (black & white) images. For
'Colorizing' we need to work in RGB so if it's a colour file already, no problem.
However if you wish to tone a monochrome image, you will need to either scan as
RGB or change the mode from Grayscale to RGB. (Do this via Image > Mode
> RGB Color).

Either all or part
of the image may be Colorized (toned) in this way. To Colorize part of the image
use either a selection to define the area or for the more advanced, go
via the Adjustment Layer route.

It's
often preferable to create copy of the original image onto a new layer as this
will preserve the original (as a 'background') should you so wish and allow subtle
blending between the two layers by layer masking or blending modes.
But you don't have to.

To Colorize,
choose this route, Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation

Within
the Hue/Saturation dialogue box, tick the 'Colorize' box.

Adjust
the Hue and Saturation sliders to give the combination required then click 'OK'.

It's
unlikely that you'll need to adjust the 'Lightness' slider so leave it alone.

A
more advanced variation on the above is to achieve the same result by the 'Adjustment
Layer' route (Layer > New > Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation). This
has the virtue of creating another layer that can be accessed later to make further
adjustments to the settings you have chosen.

Taking
the first and simpler route will irrevocably alter pixel values, and later adjustments
are therefore limited.

DUOTONES

Duotone
options are a superb way of making higher quality monochrome pictures as they
use more than one ink for the image. Printing with only black ink is often far
less satisfactory. There is also the slight advantage that Duotones produce smaller
file sizes than their RGB 'Colorized' counterpart.

NB
To create a Duotone we need to begin with a Greyscale image. This
could be an image scanned as Grayscale or one that's been converted to . To convert
to Grayscale use this route, Image > Mode > Greyscale (if you have created
'layers' you'll be given an option to 'flatten' the image). Next go to Image >
Mode > Duotone.

Three Routes
- One each for V5, V5.5 and V6

The next task is to
'load' the duotones and two routes are open to us. We can open a range of pre-set
duotones and explore these or create our own from scratch. Perhaps the easier
method to begin with is by the pre-set route. As you will discover, these 'pre-set'
tones may be altered to ones own requirements - more of which later.

For
Photoshop 6 continue a few lines below

For Photoshop
5 & 5.5. To open the pre-set Duotones use the following route

Image
> Mode > Duotone. This will probably result in a 'Monotone' box appearing
upon the screen. No matter what Duotone box is presented, you'll need to load
the type you require and this is the route you must follow.

Click
'Load', then in a mini version of the familiar 'Windows Explorer' structure go
to your Adobe folder, then ……

Next,
select either Duotones, Tritones or Quadtones. Each of these presents yet more
options so let's take a look at each one.

Duotone,
this will use two inks for the image

Tritone, this
will use three inks for the picture

Quadtone, this
will use four inks for the picture

Each of the above types
of 'Duotone' will give access to many pre-set tones, plus what at first appears
to be a bewildering number of ways to make your own tones.

We'll
begin with the pre-sets as they give an instant starting point.

Duotone Pre-sets

Upon opening Duotone
Presets you'll find three more folders, those of Gray-Black, Pantone and Process
Duotones.

To begin with choose Process Duotones or Pantone
Duotones.

Open the folder
and you'll find lots of pre-set tones to choose from, some have a descriptive
name, others only a number. Click on one then click the 'Load button. The effect
is immediately apparent in your image - that is providing you have the 
Preview box ticked! If you wish to choose another option then click 'Load' again
and make another selection. Should you wish to return to the starting point, then
in the Duotone Options dialogue box (not the Load dialogue box) hold down the
Alt key and notice that the 'Cancel' button changes to 'Reset' - click on this
and you have the opening image. Alternatively one can click 'cancel' - but this
takes the process back a stage or two and you'll have to re-load via Image >
Mode etc but via a shorter route this time.

All very fine but what about altering
the preset to make it more perfectly meet your requirements? This can easily be
done and the resulting change saved.

Open
a preset Duotone. Now, click on the box to the left of Ink 1 (probably a black
square). This reveals a graph - called a 'Curve' and presents opportunities for
change. By the way, if you have worked with 'Curves' (via the Image > Adjust
> Curves route), you'll have a pretty good understanding of what these curves
are all about. As you work on the curve you can watch the changes in the image.
Now adjust the other colour (Ink 2) and observe the changes. The curve can also
be set by entering numeric values in the boxes presented in the 'Duotone Curve'
box.

Saving Your Own Duotone Versions

You
may save the particular tone you have made. Do not save in the 'Duotone Curve'
box (you'll have trouble finding it again, honest!). Save the changes in the 'Duotones
Options' box - don't forget to give your new tone a name - this new tone will
then be added to the list and you'll see it there upon opening.

Other
combinations and colour changes can be made by clicking on the colour square and
not the mini curve box. Doing this reveals the 'Custom Colors' dialogue Box where
there is whole spectrum of choice. The 'Book' box shows the astonishing range
available - click on the down arrow to reveal the spectrum. Choose a tone by sliding
the twin arrows on the bar and click OK. The effectiveness of the change depends
upon the shape of the curve for the tone. As you know, you can change the shape
of the curve.

Returning to the 'Customs Colours' box. To
give subtle (or wild!) changes to the chosen tone selected in the bar scale, click
the 'Picker' box, this reveals a familiar colour dialogue box. The cursor will
be at the preset point for the colour chosen but you can move it to any other
point to effect changes. Click 'OK' or return to 'Custom Colors' by clicking on
the appropriate button.

Tritones
& Quadtones

Having gained an understanding about
how to select and modify a Duotone, try your hand at Tritones and Quadtones. They
all work in similar ways but with more colour combinations to modify.

Don't
ignore the so-called 'Gray Tritones' and Gray Quadtones', these can be most effective
for producing high quality monochrome images.

We can combine duotone/tritone/quadtone images with one another,
including variations that we have made, however this cannot be done in 'Duotone'
Mode. Only one Duotone is allowed at a time. To combine Duotoned images in a multilayerered
image each Duotone must be first changed back to RGB - then,after
copying-in, the layers may be mixed and blended. (Change your Duotone back to
RGB via, Image > Mode > RGB Color)

The
'Other' Method

Upon opening a Duotone (or Tritone or
Quadtone) the 'Duotone Options' dialogue box appears. Here one can click on a
'Curve' box or open a 'Custom Color' box (by clicking on the square of colour)
and plunge straight in to making a tone to suit the image. This, of course, can
be saved for future use. The pre-set method was discussed first as it gave 'instantly
useful' tones. Plunging straight in can result in some amazingly garish tones!

Mixing
/ adding your Duotone to a colour image

A reminder
- as above - to do this, convert the Duotone back to RGB via Image > Mode > RGB

And Off You Go!

Now
that you have discovered the New Universe of Duo, Tri and Quadtones, take time
to explore and experiment for this paper has only opened the door - walk inside!